World News - More U.S. troops died in Iraq over past four months than in any similar period of war

More American troops were killed in combat in Iraq over the past four months — at least 334 through Jan. 31 — than in any comparable stretch since the war began, according to an Associated Press analysis of casualty records. Not since the bloody battle for Fallujah in 2004 has the death toll spiked so high. The reason is that U.S. soldiers and Marines are fighting more battles in the streets of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and other cities. And while hostile forces are using a variety of weaponry, the top killer is the roadside bomb. In some respects it is the urban warfare that U.S. commanders thought they had managed to largely avoid after U.S. troops entered Baghdad in early April 2003 and quickly toppled the Saddam Hussein regime.... http://www.usatoday.com

From frenzied bidding for art worth £400m to a stampede for fine French wine, London is in the grip of an unprecedented spending spree fuelled by £9bn of City bonuses and an influx of super-wealthy foreigners. The capital has long vied for the title of the world's wealthiest city but it will this week cement its status as the boom town of a new monied elite with a seemingly unquenchable thirst for conspicuous consumption. Britain has become a magnet for a select group of high rollers - international billionaires who are choosing London above competitors such as New York and Dubai to make their homes. Forbes magazine, the bible of the wealthy, revealed that London now has 23 billionaires, including the highest number of non-domiciled tycoons in the world. Together, they have a combined wealth of more than £45bn....http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2248775.ece

Lebanese troops deployed along the border with Israel opened fire late Wednesday as Israeli troops searched for Hezbollah bombs, drawing retaliatory fire, officials from both sides said. It was the first time that shooting erupted across the border since shortly after an Aug. 14 cease-fire that ended a 34-day war between Israeli forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah militants. Lebanese troops opened fire on a bulldozer after it crossed the so-called Blue Line — the U.N.-demarcated boundary — and entered about 20 yards into Lebanon, Lebanese officials said. Israeli troops responded with tanks and light weapons, Israeli security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The exchange occurred near the Lebanese village of Maroun el-Rass, which was the scene of heavy fighting in the summer war, in the central sector of the border. ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-02-08-israel-lebanon-border_x.htm?csp=34

A Department of Homeland Security official admitted today the agency misled Congress when it contended it possessed investigative reports proving Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean confessed guilt and declared they "wanted to shoot some Mexicans" prior to the incident that led to their imprisonment. The admission came during the testimony of DHS Inspector General Richard L. Skinner before the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, according to Michael Green, press secretary for Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas. Culberson was questioning Skinner about a meeting DHS officials had Sept. 26 with him and three other Republican congressman from Texas, Reps. Ted Poe, Michael McCaul and Kenny Marchant. ...http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54132

The judge overseeing the court martial of an Army lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq declared a mistrial Wednesday, saying the soldier did not fully understand a document he signed admitting to elements of the charges. Military judge Lt. Col. John Head announced the decision after 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, under questioning with the military jury absent, said he never intended to admit he had a duty to go to Iraq with his fellow soldiers - one element of the crime of missing troop movement. Head set a March 12 date for a new trial and dismissed the jurors. The prosecution had rested but the defense had not yet presented any witnesses. Watada's defense lawyer objected to the mistrial and said a second trial would amount to double jeopardy - more than one prosecution for the same alleged crime. Watada, 28, of Honolulu, had been expected to testify in his own defense Wednesday but Head and lawyers in the case met in closed session for much of the morning. In their opening statements ...http://www.komotv.com/news/5640216.html

Man bites dog; dog bites back. That was the sequence when Alsatian police dog Edge cornered two suspects on a cliff side after a grocery store robbery in Napier, New Zealand, police said on Thursday. One of the suspects leaped down the slope and landed almost directly into the hands of police officers waiting at the bottom. The other suspect, who was armed with a knife took on Edge, and bit the dog in the struggle. "He bit the dog first," Detective Sergeant John McGregor told The Associated Press. Edge was unfazed, sinking his teeth into his attacker. "The dog did win the fight, the offender ended up with one or two lacerations," McGregor said. "I think he knew he was going to get bitten so he bit the dog first." ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2858286